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PETWeb II – Privacy-respecting Identity Management for e-Norge

PETWeb II – Privacy-respecting Identity Management for e-Norge

The project addresses societal challenges concerning the future of electronic identifiers and electronic identities. The implication of such identities range from today’s crime (identity theft) to long-term privacy implications and fundamental rights such as informational self-determination. Electronic identifiers penetrate all aspects of information systems and their contact with society – ranging from e-mail addresses up to social security numbers and electronic passports.The computerization of administration and private business requires management of various aspects of people’s identities on information systems. Identifiers, passwords, personal profiles, pseudonyms, person numbers, social security numbers, patient numbers and various other identifiers such as e-mail addresses, credit card numbers, passport numbers and bank account numbers are used to uniquely identify information system users or citizens. Some of these identifiers and their attached authentication and identity information are very mobile, and spread into many information systems and purposes. As recently discussed concerning the Norwegian citizen person number, such a function shift can pose serious risk to government and citizens, and open opportunities for criminals, such as:

Identity theft and fraud based on stolen electronic identifiers are growing;

Person number schemes likely to have sufficient flaws in combination with networked application;

Several Norwegian governmental organizations are searching for new electronic identifier schemes and identity management approaches;

The privacy implications of a life-long electronic citizen identifier in the social and health system are vast;

Societal security and administrative/economic efficiency are dependent on efficient use of the identity management scheme.

NR’s contribution

NR’s research in the area of ICT has a main basis in security, privacy and interactive, network-based technology. NR has previously run several RCN funded projects on privacy, e.g. PETweb. NR will contribute with a broad range of research capabilities within risk assessment, modeling and simualation, and assist one PhD student. NR will also contribute towards co-ordination of the project.

Building of an interdisciplinary framework for privacy-respecting identity management pri-marily targeted to web services;

Design of a reference model for privacy-respecting identity management;

Provide and validate methods and tools for the evaluation of requirements and approaches to privacy-respecting identity management.

Benefit for society

Identity management is the gatekeeper to the electronic society. It penetrates all aspects of society, from public administration to financial transactions. The privacy of citizens as well as the correct functioning of the administration and the efficiency of the economy in the e-Society are all depend-ent on IDM. IDM can be considered a critical long-time infrastructure for public archives, the health system and other aspects of society. Its failure opens the doors to injustice, crime and inefficiency.

Ebenezer Paintsil, Lothar Fritsch: Survey of privacy and security in identity management systems, Abstract accepted for presentation on IFIP/PrimeLife Summer School 2010 (will be updated and then reviewed for proceedings publishing after August 2010).

Fritsch, Lothar: Business Security and Privacy Risk of RFID. On: Are you ready for the Internet of Things?, RFID-RNET Resource Network Workshop , 10-11.5.2010, Oslo, pp. 30, May 10, 2010.